Doorway construction



July 16, 1940.

D. J. SEAMAN 2,208,198

DOORWAY CONSTRUCTION OriginalFiled Sept. 3, 1956 r 1 1761/11? J SEAMANgag Bnw 1' Patented July 16, 1940 ATENT OFFICE DOORWAY CONSTRUCTIONDavid J. Seaman, Battle Creek, Mich, assignor to curvilinear Doors &Windows, Ina, Battle Creek, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Originalapplication September 3, 1936, Serial No. 99,272. Divided and thisapplication April 17,

1939, Serial N0. 268,211

4 Claims. (01. -16

The present invention relates to improvements in door construction beingparticularly adapted for use in stores and buildings handling heavypedestrian trafiic. This application is a division 6 of my copendingapplication Serial No. 99,272,

filed September 3, 1936, now Patent No. 2,154,641

patented April 18, 19.39. s The aforesaid application discloses andclaims a door construction wherein adjacent swinging doors for trafficin opposite directions are so designed as to suggest to the pedestrianthe door through which he should pass to minimize congestion. Thepresent invention is designed for the same purpose but different fromthe prior invention, in that a single door for one-way traffic is sodesigned and shaped as to invite to the pedestrian the use of the doorand to minimize congestion at periods of heavy traflic. Furthermore, thedoor according to the present invention embodies safety featuresand atthe same time is attractive in appearance.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved door and door jambof arcuate configuration to invite pedestrians to use it and to minimizecongestion. f

Another object of the invention is to provide an arcuate'door inassociation with an arcuate door jamb.

These and other objects and advantages residing in the construction andarrangement and combination of parts will become apparent on thefollowing specification when taken with the accompanying drawing, inwhich Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my improved door construction,

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken through the swivel about which thedoor is swung in operation,

and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section showing details of construction of thedoor jamb.

Referring particularly to the drawing, the reference character 1indicates a wall in which door jambs Zand 3 are disposed. Offset fromthe line 45 of the jambs 2 and 3 is a third jamb 4. Co-operating withthe jambs 2 and 4 is an arcuate door 5.

The door 5 may be of any suitable construction.

As shown, it is provided on one side with a hand rail 6 and a glass paneI. It will be understood 50 that either of these details may be omittedor other features may be employed.

v The door 5 is pivotally supported about the vertical axis of the edgeportion 8, in contiguous relation with the arcuate edge surface 9 of thejamb 55 2. The edge portion 8 is generally of cylindrical form, as shownparticularly in Fig. 2 of the drawing. It is preferredthatthe radius ofthe curve of the edge surface 9 of the jamb 2 be equal to that of theedge portion 8, so that as the door swings about the vertical axis ofthe edge portion 8 it will at all times be in close association with thejamb 2. If desired, a vertical channel Hi may be disposed in the surface9 of the jamb 2 for the purpose of receiving a Weatherstrip. l I whichwill coact with the edge portion 8 of the doorto pro- 0 vide a weatherseal.

The structure for supporting the edge portion 8 for pivotal movementabout its vertical axis is shown in Fig. 3'. Secured in a recess IS inthe wall i is a metallic bushing it held in place by screws 15 ll.Pivotally mounted in the bushing 16 is a pin it supported in alignmentwith the axis of the edge portion 8 of the door 5 and held in thebushing it by a plug I9 removably secured in posi-' tion in the edgeportion 8 and beneath the pin 18 by screws 20. A similar or equivalentstructure may be employed to pivotally support the bottom of the edgeportion 8. 1

Between the jambs 3 and i is a panel 2| arcuate in configuration andconforming to the general 25 curve of the door 5. Disposed in the panel2| may be a door 22 pivotally secured to the jamb 3 by hinges 23. Alsoif desired, a screen 24 may be disposed between the jambs 3 and 4.

In the use of the door, according to the present 30 invention, it willbe readily apparent that should two persons attempt to pass through thedoor at the same time, in opposite directions, the person toward whomthe door is swung in going from closed to open position does not have tostep back and try to avoid the outer swinging edge of the door as hewould in the case of the conventional straight door. In view of thisfact, confusion and congestion is largely eliminated. Furthermore, thecurvilinear portion of the doorway defined between the jambs 3 and 4defines a recess such as at 25 into which a person desiring to pass outof the door may step to permit someone entering to pass through ahead ofhim. The presence of the recess 25 has the self-suggesting eifect ondirecting a person thereinto to permit'the person entering to passthrough the door first. Another advantage of the present construction isthat the curvilinearity of the door 5 has the tendency to direct coldair from the outside along the inte rio-r wall of the building in whichthe door is disposed, rather than directly into the interior of thebuilding structure. The swinging door 22 provides a convenient methodfor ventilation through the doorway in warm weather with the 2 door 5closed. While the structure disclosed in the foregoing specification isdesigned particularly for use in commercial doorways, it will beapparent that the invention may be employed in private residences notonly for doors but for windows as well, and it being particularlyadaptable for bay windows.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by LettersPatent and claim is:

1. A doorway for pedestrian trafiic, disposedin a wall, comprisingspaced door jambs,- a door supported for swinging movement andindependent operation upon a vertical axis having one vertical edgethereof disposed adjacent one of said jambs, said door being curvilinearin cross-section to present a concavity on one side into which traificin one direction is directed in the direction of door opening, and astructure associated with said door, completing the doorway and definingwith the wall a recess upon the opposite side of said door in which apedestrian may stand prior to passage through said door following theopening thereof, said door and structure being projected out ofalignment with said wall.

2. A doorway for pedestrian trafiic comprising a pair of spaced aligneddoor jambs, an additional jamb offset from said aligned jambs, a door.position, a window frame defined between said jamb and the other sideof said frame, and a window disposed in said frame, said window andwindow frame carrying out the general curvilinearity of said door.

'4. A door frame having side members, a door curvilinear incross-section disposed .in said frame, a jamb for said door disposed outof the plane of said frame, and structure between said jamb and framecarrying out the same general curvilinearity of said door providing arecess between said frame and said door when in closed position.

DAVID J. SEAMAN.

